USA > Maine > Somerset County > Skowhegan > History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians > Part 18
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Canaan > History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians > Part 18
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Bloomfield > History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians > Part 18
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Starks > History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians > Part 18
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Norridgewock > History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians > Part 18
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RALE.
" These circling eddies teem with animation ; For here in their migrations rest awhile The finny tribes, 'till renovated strength Enables them to leap above the cataract." .
Though the first settlements in ancient Ca- naan were within the present limits of Bloom- field, yet Skowhegan was peopled at an early date. The natural boundary made by the river, soon led the people to aim at a separation from Bloomfield, and the inconvenient size of the town of Canaan, after the separation from Bloomfield, caused the people to aim at the erection of a new town.
The Town of Milburn * was incorporated February 5, 1823. The first annual meeting
* Samuel Philbrick, Esq., has lived for a number of years in the house he now occupies, and strange as it may seem, he has lived in two states, two counties, and three towns, during the time, though he has not changed his location in the least! Maine and Massachusetts are the states ; Kennebec and Somer- set are the counties ; Norridgewock, Milburn, and Skowhegan are the towns. The frequent alterations of names and bound- aries serves to solve the apparent difficulty. Nearly one twelfth of Norridgewock was added to Skowhegan in the year 1828. Continual alterations are taking place in this respect, and seces- sions and additions are of frequent occurrence.
299
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
was called to order by Daniel Steward, Esq., and the following gentlemen served as the first Town Officers :
Joseph Patten, Moderator; Samuel Weston, Town Clerk; Saml. Weston, Benjamin Eaton, and Joseph Merrill, Selectmen and Assessors ; Josiah Parlin, Town Treasurer.
The Town voted in 1830, to petition the Gen- eral Court for leave to elect a Representative such part of the following ten years as they were entitled to, and not be united with any other town.
It was voted March 4, 1833, to cause the " laws to be enforced so far as it respects drunk- enness, in or about the taverns, stores, or other places, in Skowhegan Village, and also as it respects licenses, and persons selling spirituous liquors, contrary to law." It will be seen by the record of this vote, that though the town bore the incorporated name of Milburn, yet the Indian name of the Falls, designated the village. There was a growing dislike to the name of Milburn, and a strong wish to adopt the old Indian name.
Elder Joseph Merrill received the interest arising from the Ministerial Fund for services as minister of the town for the years 1836, 7.
In the year 1836, the name was changed from Milburn to Skowhegan.
September 7, 1837, the town voted against amending the constitution. Yeas 21, nays 69; in the year 1839 the same question was thus decided, - yeas 78, nays 57.
April 7, 1839, five hundred dollars were
300
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
raised for the use of the poor. A small farm was bought, and a house erected for the same purpose.
In 1843 it was voted that but one person in the town should have permission to sell ardent spirits, and that he should keep a record of all sales, which should be open to the public, and that the said agent should make a report of his sales at the next annual meeting.
In the year 1846, it was voted " that there shall be no license given for anything."
In the year 1848, the Ministerial Fund was appropriated to building a Town House. The house was built in 1849, and it is a very com- modious edifice. The upper story is finished into a beautiful hall, owned by the Odd Fellows.
The history of Skowhegan since it has been severed from Canaan, has not of course been eventful. The history of Canaan belongs to Skowhegan.
The agricultural products for the year 1837,* were corn, 2,919 bushels; wheat, 4,506; rye, 579 ; oats, 13,810 ; beans, 321 ; pease, 953; barley, 1,286 ; potatoes, 37,875 ; turnips, 715 ; apples, 4,865 ; wool, 5,261 lbs. ; maple sugar, 720 ; pork 90,400 ; beef, 10,550 ; butter, 19,555 ; cheese, 6,260 ; hay (English), 2,084 tons ; meadow, 12; cider, 228 bbls. ; 208 horses ; 15 colts ; 145 oxen; 341 cows; 349 other cattle; 2,323 sheep ; 379 swine.
There were 26 chaises ; 78 horse wagons ; 1 coach ; 1 grist mill ; 2 saw mills which saw- ed 50,000 feet of boards; 1 tannery with 10 vats ; $15,350 stock in trade; $3,000 money
* Melzar Lindsay, Esq.
301
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
loaned ; $9,100 bank stock. In 1841, the State valued the real estate at $183,970, and in 1845, at $196,403.
The agricultural products have considerably changed since 1837. There is less land unim- proved and more occupied, and while fewer bushels of wheat and potatoe's are raised, and less barrels of cider made, there are more of other products.
The rapid growth of the town has very much increased its industrial enterprise. Calculations would only approximate to correctness, and the valuation of 1850 will give an exact state- ment.
The following facts were furnished by Euse- bius Weston, Esq., too late to be inserted in their proper places :
Solomon Steward, junr. erected the first dam across the west channel, and built a grist mill about 1811, - subsequently taken down and moved below the bridge. He and others built a saw mill below.
Andrew Morse built a saw mill, grist mill, and clothing mill, at the mouth of Currier Brook ; a Mr. Heald owned a saw mill near where Savage and Hawkes now work.
In the great freshet of 1832, the whole went off with one arch of Skowhegan bridge, &c .; the damage estimated at not less than 10,000 or 12,000 dollars.
The first saw mill in Skowhegan, after the Judge Mclellan mill at the mouth of Wesser- runsett, was built by Phineas Steward, sen., on a brook near Sam. Parkman's.
26
302
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
About 1792, James Malbon, sen. built on the Wesserrunsett ; the site is now owned by Jo- seph and Stephen Malbon, grandsons.
The next mills were built by Rev. John Cay- ford, where Neil's mill is. Cayford's grist mill went off in 1832.
First store opened very small by Samuel Weston, in partnership with the late John Ware, about 1780 - Mr. Ware at Norridge- wock, and Weston at his farm ; - kept as long as he lived, and was preparing to enlarge.
1803 - Seth Currier and William Bridge bought an old school-house, and made a store of it, on the site now occupied by widow Nuth, - kept in it several years and built a part of what is now the Coburn store.
John Wyman, son of Seth Wyman, built the Parker Store in Bloomfield.
Jona. Farrar came into the town from Bath ; did a handsome business through the war of 1812 and so on; went into the Merino sheep business ; pursued it to some profit.
First mill in Bloomfield built by Solomon Steward, sen., on the brook near the tannery ; run several years and answered the wants of the set- tlement. Another by the same up the stream near the school-house, did not do much.
Peter Heywood, sen., built on Skowhegan Island, about 1790. Sold to Capt. Isaac Smith, he to Abraham, his son, and so on, to Currier and Bridge, and then to William Weston, in 1809.
The following is the list of the first persons taxed in Milburn, now Skowhegan. It will
303
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
serve in future years to show the reader the first dwellers in the town.
Jonas Ames, Daniel Austin,
James Fairbrother, George Fish,
I. F. and E. Ames,
John E. & J. H. French,
Thomas Annis, Daniel Foster,
Samuel Bickford,
Abraham Boston,
Catherine Greenleaf, William Graves,
Humphrey Burrell, Jr., James Grace, Joshua Gardner,
Thomas Barry, Dudley Blake,
Ebenezer Gardner,
William Brown,
Abel Homstead,
Noah Burrell, Jr.
Joseph Hook,
Humphrey Burrell, Reuben Burrell, John Booker, James Brown,
Joseph H. Hill, J. H. Hill, Jr., Daniel Herrin, Jr. Esq.
Francis Caldwell, John Clarke, John Connor, William Carson,
Andrew Herrin, James Howe, Daniel Homsted,
Reuben Homstead,
James Curtice,
Thomas Currier, Morrill Currier, Aaron Colman, Jr., Nathaniel Deering, Jacob Doyen, Samuel Doyen, Asa Dyer, Joseph Dudley, Thomas Darling, Benjamin Eaton, Do.
Timothy Homstead, Amos S. Hill, Joseph Herrin, Daniel Herrin, 3d, Joseph Haskell, Esq.
William Herrin,
Thomas W. Hayden, Joseph & Joseph Jen- kins, Jr. Jeremiah Ireland, Capt. Joseph Ireland,
Samuel Herrin, 2d,
Samuel Herrin,
304
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
Samuel Kincaid, Lewis Kraus,
Thomas Robinson, Peter Robinson,
James Leavitt,
Thomas Robinson, Jr.
Abiel Lancaster,
Willard Sears,
John Lambert,
Daniel Steward,
James Lambert,
Osgood Sawyer,
Richard Lambert,
William Soule, Jr.
William B. Morrill,
Newell Sandborn,
James Merrill,
Gilman Smith,
James & Andrew M'- John Steward,
Crellis, Palmer M' Crellis, James Mitchell,
Josiah Steward, Dudley L. Swain,
Mary Merrill,
Nathaniel Shaw,
Joseph Merrill,
Joseph Simonds, Levi Wyman, Stephen Weston,
Joseph Patten, Esq.
Patten & Neil, John Pooler,
S. & D. C. Weston, Samuel Weston, Eli Weston, Esq. James White, William White,
George Pooler,
Asahel Polly, Daniel Parkman,
David Wyman, Jr.
Solomon White,
Daniel Parkman, Jr., Noah Pratt,
Nathaniel B. White, John Webb, Susanna Ward,
Joseph Patten,
Josiah Patten,.
Jacob Pratt, Joseph Pooler,
Jonathan Woodman,
Atherton Pratt,
Joseph Russell,
Benjamin Rowe,
John Whitman, Christopher Webb, 3d.
John Wyman,
Samuel Young.
Edmund Merry, Eben. H. Neil, Thomas Nye, Josiah Parlin,
Hugh Smiley,
Eusebius Weston,
Daniel C. Weston,
305
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
TREASURERS .- Josiah Parlin, 1823, 4, 5, 6, 7 ; Joseph Patten, 1828, 9, 30, 1, 2; Eben H. Neil, 1833, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 40, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; William B. Morrell, 1848 ; Albert Fuller, 1849.
REPRESENTATIVES. - Wentworth Tuttle, 1823, 31, 3, 5,; Benjamin Eaton, 1824; Jonas Heald, 1825; John F. Weymouth, 1826 ; Joseph Bar- ret, 1827; David Kidder, 1828; Milford P. Norton, 1829, 37; Samuel Weston, 1830 ; Dan- niel Herrin, 1832; Samuel Robinson, 1834; Eben H. Neil, 1836, 8 ; Hiram Tuttle, 1839 ; Cyrus Fletcher, 1840, 7 ; Joseph Patten, 1841 ; Hiram C. Warren, 1842; Robert Hunter, 1843 ; Joseph Merril, 1844; Jesse Washburn, 1845 ; John W. Patten, 1846 ; Alvah J. Baker, 1848.
MODERATORS. - Joseph Patten, 1823, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 30, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 40, 1; Joseph Merrill, 1823; Levi Wyman, 1825, 6, 7, 31; David H. Raymond, 1826, 8 ; John G. Neil, 1829, 30, 1, 2, 3, 4; Eben H. Neil, 1836; Samuel Phil- brick, 1837; Benjamin Eaton, 1837, 9; Daniel Herrin, 1842; Asa Wyman, 1842: Osgood Sawyer, 1843, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; Cyrus Fletcher, 1844 ; Ruel Weston, 1848.
TOWN CLERKS. - Samuel Weston, 1823, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ; Ichabod Russel, 1829; Samuel Phil- brick, 1830, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 40 ; Eben H. Neil, 1837; John Kerswell, 1838; Joseph Patten, 1842, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ; Ruel Weston, 1849.
VOTES FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS. - 1824, Adams 14; 1828, Adams 78, Jackson 7; 1832,
26*
306
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
Adams 84, Jackson 66 ; 1836, Harrison 32, Van Buren 27; 1840, Harrison 205, Van Buren 127, Birney 1; 1844, Clay 146, Polk 123, Birney 13 ; 1848, Taylor 147, Cass 75, Van Buren 67.
TAXES - 1823 TO 1849.
1823
Town. $200
Highway. $1100
Schools. $300
1824
100
800
300
1825
200
1000
280
1826
120
950
280
1827
245
1000
280
1828
125
1500
350
1829
100
1200
350
1830
200
1250
350
1831
225
1200
405
1832
200
1500
405
1833
200
1875
400
1834
200
1650
500
1835
300
1500
500
1836
400
2000
500
1837
400
2000
500
1838
1000
2000
500
1839
800
1500
500
1840
800
2000
500
1841
900
1800
600
1842
800
1500
600
1843
1000
2000
600
1844
1000
1800
600
1845
900
1500
600
1846
1300
1800
600
1847
1200
2200
600
1848
450
2450
600
1849
1000
2250
600
307
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
CHRISTIANS.
The church history of Skowhegan, previous to the year 1823, is embodied in the History of Canaan. The first church, located within the present limits of the town, was the Christian.
The early labors of Rev. Joseph Merrill, though in Canaan, were in that portion of the ancient town now known as Skowhegan. He commenced preaching within the present lim- its of the town about the year 1811, and formed a church at Dudley's Corner about the year 1818. Many of the fathers and mothers of the cause, since connected with the Village church, were members of that body. About the year 1830 a small church was organized at Haskell's Corner, and the Village church was formed June 5, 1836. Still another was formed in the Pooler neighborhood, on the plains, about the year 1840. Elder Merrill has sustained a very prominent part in the movements of this body, he having generally employed a portion of his time with one or all of the churches.
Among the number of non-resident preach- ers are remembered Revs. Henry Frost, Mark Shepard, Benjamin P. Reed, Samuel Young, and Eleazar Hamlin. Rev. Samuel Bickford was pastor of the Village church from 1838 to 1843. He now labors in the neighboring towns, though he resides in Skowhegan. He was or- dained June 23, 1838.
Rev. Nathaniel White now resides in the town, and labors as occasion calls. He was ordained eight or ten years ago.
* Communicated by Ruel Weston, Esq.
308
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
From 1843, 4, to the fall of 1845, Rev. Milton Chalmers labored among the people. He was succeeded, in 1846, by Elder Merrill, and in 1847 there was no stated preaching, as the church was husbanding its resources, prepara- tory to building.
In the year 1849, Rev. John B. Weston, of Madison, the present pastor, commenced his labors. April 5, 1849, a legal society was formed, agreeable to the petition of Ruel Wes- ton and fourteen others, of which Samuel Bickford was moderator, and Ruel Weston clerk. The four churches in the Christian con- nection in Skowhegan, now number about two hundred members. There is a fine Sunday school at Haskell's Corner, with forty scholars and one hundred library books, and the school at the Union house is in part composed of chil- dren connected with the denomination. The principal years of interest were 1822-3, '36, and 43. At these times great blessings were re- ceived.
As related in the sketch of the Congrega- tionalist society, meetings are held in the beau- tiful Union house every alternate Sabbath, besides religious services in other parts of the town. The denomination is in a flourishing state.
METHODISTS.
The branch of the Methodist church in Skowhegan, comprises those who profess that form of Christianity in Skowhegan and Bloom-
* Communicated by Rev. C. C. Cone, and Joseph Patten, Esq.
309
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
field. The church was organized in the year 1827, by Rev. Ezekiel Robinson. It consisted, at that time, of but four members, all of whom were men. The first pastor was Rev. Benja-
min Jones. After enjoying seasons of growth and prosperity, the present neat and eligibly located house of worship was completed, in June, 1836, at an expense of $3,500. It was the first meeting-house ever erected in Skow- hegan, and is not only convenient, but it is an ornament to the village.
The church numbers now one hundred and twenty members, and there is a Sabbath school attached, which was organized in 1828 ; it has one hundred and twenty-five members, and a library of five hundred and fifty volumes.
The different pastors, with their years of labor, have been as follows : - Revs. Henry True, 1828-9 ; F. Drew, 1829-30; Greenleaf Greely, 1830-1; Ezekiel Robinson, 1831-2 ; Benjamin Follett, 1832-3 ; S. P. Blake, 1833-4, 35-6; Asa Heath, 1834-5; Edward Hotchkiss, 1836-7; D. Hutchinson, 1837-8 ; P. P. Morrill, 1838-40; A. Sanderson, 1840-1; C. P. Brag- don, 1841-2; H. Butler, 1842-3; C. Scammon, 1843-5; Obadiah Huse, 1845-6; A. F. Bar- nard, 1846-8; C. C. Cone, 1848-9.
The church is now in a prosperous condition, and promises well for future success.
UNIVERSALISTS.
The believers in God's unconditional Grace and Mercy, scattered in Bloomfield and Skow- hegan, have supported the preaching of the Gospel, as they understand it, for several years.
310
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
A society was organized in the year 1836, and though no preacher statedly ministered, yet many distinguished advocates of the doctrine delivered their message. Revs. Seth Stetson, Darius Forbes, Jacob K. Fulmer, and many others from time to time proclaimed their sen- timents, but it was not until the year 1842 that a preacher was procured to occupy the desk with regularity. At that time, Rev. John Ad- ams Henry re-organized and took the pastoral charge of the society, which had been suffered to run down. He remained, much beloved, discharging a faithful and successful ministry, until December, 1846, when he removed to Ludlow, Vt. The society had been making efforts to erect a house of worship, and Mr. Henry removed to Ludlow, intending to return at the end of two years, and it was hoped that the building would then be commenced. But
Dec. 15, 1847, he was called from earth. He was thirty-two years of age, having been born in Bowdoinham, Nov. 13, 1815. His death was regarded as a denominational calamity.
Rev. C. S. Hussey, of Sangerville, supplied the desk for a portion of the year 1848, and in the spring of 1849, Rev. John Wesley Hanson became pastor. Attached to the society is a Sunday school, numbering forty scholars, with a library of two hundred volumes. The place of worship is Washingtonian Hall, but a splen- did site for a new church has been purchased on Skowhegan Island, Bloomfield, and prepa- rations are being made for the erection of a handsome brick church, during the summer of 1850.
311
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
CONGREGATIONALISTS. *
In the year 1840, a portion of the Bloomfield Church, desirous of establishing a church and society in Skowhegan, joined several members of other churches, - in all sixteen, - and formed a distinct and regularly organized church. It was agreed to continue to attend upon the preaching of the Rev. Mr. Hathaway, and to observe the ordinances with the Bloom- field Church, for a short time after organization. Its meetings and discipline were distinct from the Bloomfield church. This arrangement continued until 1845, when the connection was dissolved. Soon after, preparations were made to erect a place of worship. The plan was as follows : The Christians being destitute, it was agreed that a legal body should be organized, consisting of the members of both churches, who should erect a house by stock subscription, and that each should occupy the house one half of the time, until one or the other should purchase it on terms satisfactory to both.
The first pastor was Rev. Alpha Morton, of Temple, who was engaged February, 1848, for one half of the time. The house was com- pleted, and publicly dedicated to God, March 16, 1848. Introductory Prayer, Rev. Alpha Morton ; Reading of Scripture, Rev. Samuel Bickford; Dedicatory Prayer, Rev. - Rogers ; Sermon, Rev. J. B. Weston ; Closing Prayer, Rev. J. Merrill. The house is a very beautful one, in most excellent taste, adorned with a fine clock, costing in all about $5,500.
* Communicated by Dr. J. Marden.
312
HISTORY OF SKOWHEGAN.
The church received $50 from the Mission- ary Society during the first year. To this they added $150, which was the sum paid Mr. Mor- ton for his services for one half of the time. In February, 1849, Mr. Morton returned to Temple, and Rev. Asa T. Loring, of Phippsburg, was settled as pastor, on the same terms as his predecessor. Though the church has had ad- ditions since its formation, yet, by removals and death, it is now reduced to its original number, sixteen. The two societies have a Sunday School in common, consisting of sixty scholars, with a library of two hundred volumes.
BAPTISTS.
There is a small Baptist Church in Skowhe- gan. It was organized as the Second Baptist Church in Canaan, January 7, 1813, with twenty members. Its progress has been very slow, and " for thirty years they were not able to provide for themselves the benefit of a pastor or stated ministry." - Millet. They have been occasionally supplied by Rev. Messrs. Jonathan Steward, Jas. Steward, Robert Coburn, Joseph Roberts, Joseph Wagg, M. Cain, and L. Packard.
Mr. Packard preached one fourth of the time in 1839, and in 1840 the church was enlarged to forty members. The first settled pastor was the Rev. John Robertson, who came in 1843, and remained two years. William Oakes was ordained as an Evangelist, in February, 1815. Rev. Daniel McMasters immediately succeeded Mr. Robertson, and remained until the fall of 1848. The church now numbers thirty-eight members. There is no Sunday School attached.
MISCELLANEOUS.
ROADS. - The only means of travelling and transportation for several years after the first settlement of Norridgewock and Canaan, was on snow-shoes and hand-sleds in winter, and with boats in the summer. The first roads were mere paths through the woods from house to house along the banks of the river. From time to time, as necessity demanded, the roads increased in number and excellence. No one but hunters and explorers went far north of Sandy River, until 1815, when Pease drove horses and cattle through to Canada, and about that time the State laid out a road. A subscription was raised, in 1826, in Augusta and other river towns, to enable a road to be kept open through the winter. William and Henry H. Humphreys, Englishmen, engaged for two hundred dollars, to keep an open winter road. In 1836-7 a mail was transport- ed to Quebec, but the arrangement was discon- tinued in a disagreement.
A road was first laid out on the Bloomfield shore of Canaan, and, crossing just above the falls, it passed up on the opposite bank, and went through Norridgewock, to Old Point.
27
314
MISCELLANEOUS.
In a few months roads were laid out on the opposite shores, at first mere horse-paths, but in process of time, they became well-made thoroughfares. . As the river-lots were settled and the back-farms were sold, parallel roads dividing them were made, and cross-roads and other avenues of travel were laid out, until the roads and streets in suburb and village became what they now are : - neat, commodious, and often extremely beautiful. When a road was first made passable for wheels from Parlin's to the ferry and mill, the people were greatly delighted.
GRAVEYARDS. - Norridgewock. The first burial place in the town was located a short distance above the village, on land now owned by J. S. Abbott, Esq. A few years since many of the bodies were exhumed and re- interred in other places. There was formerly a public burial ground in the south part of the town. Besides these there are private places of deposit. A child of Thomas Far- rington and his mother were buried on the land he occupied.
There are now two cemeteries ; both of which are pleasant, retired, and neatly adorned by art and nature. They are appropriately named " valleys of peace." They lie, one on each side of the river, contiguous to the two villages, and are neatly enclosed and pleasantly adorned by young shade trees, that will improve in beauty with each succeeding year, until their grateful shadows shall rest in quiet benediction on the
315
MISCELLANEOUS.
sleeping dead. There the departed rest. Side by side sleep kindred and friends, who were " beautiful in life, and in death were not divided." The quiet murmuring of the neighboring river, and the whispering of the leaves, blending with the music of birds, make constant melody, and chant a ceaseless requiem about the holy place of death.
The North burial ground waslocated in 1789, when it was * " voted to have one place for a burying ground and no more, and that the place shall be between Mr. Clark's bars on the River Road, and Mr. William Spalding's line on the west." The land was given by Dea. John Clark. In this yard lie the remains of many of the early settlers and their descendants. The earliest tomb-stone reads thus: " Here lies the body of Abraham Moors Spalding, who de- parted this life August 27, 1796, aged 1 year, 2 m. 12 d." The tombstone over the remains of Mrs. Esther Emery presents the following beautiful inscription : " Not lost, but gone be- fore." Rarely, however, are sweetness of lan- guage and poetic thought, combined with Christian feeling, seen in an epitaph so well expressed, as on a tablet over the remains of an infant child of Rev. Josiah and Sarah Peet :
" She tasted of life's bitter cup, Refused to drink the potion up ; But turned her little head aside, Disgusted with the taste, and dy'd."
The yard on the south side of the river was laid out in the year 1838, and was given to the * Town Record.
316
MISCELLANEOUS.
town by Dr. Amos Townsend. The oldest in- scription is as follows : " Charles Morse died . March 12, 1838, Aged 28 years 6 m." Among many good epitaphs are the following. The first is over the grave of Mrs. Achsah Tink- ham, and the second above that of Mrs. Lucy D. Gray.
" Lord, she was thine, and not our own, Thou hast not done us wrong ; We thank thee for the precious loan, Afforded us so long."
Mrs. Gray's.
" The brightest rose when faded, Flings forth o'er its tomb, Its velvet leaves laded With silent perfume. Thus round me will hover In grief or in glee,
Till Life's dream be over, Sweet memories of thee."
There is a neat yard located near Old Point, which was laid out in 182 -. The oldest in- scription reads thus : " Mrs. Lucy, Wife of Dea. Solomon Bixby, died September 16, 1826, aged 59 years."
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